Transport Solutions Development Manager

Culina Group Limited; Desborough; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Leave 25 days + bank holidays

Bonus scheme

Private Medical Cover

Pension scheme (5% employee / 8% emplo

Life Assurance - 4x salary

Company car or car allowance

Employee wellbeing support

Eye care vouchers

Retail discounts

Job summary

Great Bear within the Culina Group is seeking a Solutions Development Manager in the Business Development function to design commercially competitive transport solutions and lead tender responses across the Midlands and North.

You will coordinate with operations and finance, develop and feed financial models, and prepare tender documentation while maintaining up-to-date industry knowledge and customer collaboration. The role requires travel and a 40-hour week.

Qualifications

• Commercial awareness of the UK 3PL sector.
• Experience in logistics solutions design with commercial accountability.
• Strong cost modelling and financial analysis skills.
• Ability to present to customers and Board level.

Responsibilities

• Lead tender design and response documentation.
• Design warehouse and transport solutions with industry best practice.
• Develop resource models feeding financial analyses.
• Prepare P&L budgets with finance partners.
• Coordinate with ops, regional directors and specialists.

Skills

Commercial awareness

Board-level communication

Analytical skills

Leadership

Tender process management

Excel advanced

Cost/impact modelling

Transport pricing knowledge

Pressure handling

Tools

MS Excel macros

Data analysis tools

Job description

Company Description

Great Bear (Part of the Culina Group) provides distribution services to FMCG clients. Customer centric service focus is delivered through a site-level empowered culture.

Company Description

Great Bear (Part of the Culina Group) provides distribution services to FMCG clients. Customer centric service focus is delivered through a site-level empowered culture.

At Culina we have a winning culture, we believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive... A place where you're valued, challenged, and inspired!

Job Description

Working within the Business Development function, you will principally be responsible for leading the solution design of the tender responses, designing and delivering commercially competitive solutions for transport opportunities.

This role can be based at any of our Great Bear depots within the Midlands or North area however some travel will be a requirement as part of the role.

Working hours: Monday to Friday, 40 hour week.

Key Duties of a Solutions Development Manager

• Communicate directly with customers during all stages of the tender process.
• Analyse customer requirements including tender documents and data. Assess business development opportunities in the context of Great Bear's existing operations and provide executive summaries. Make recommendations regarding the suitability of potential new business.
• Plan and coordinate project and tender responses. Make recommendations regarding bid scope. Liaise with Regional Operations Directors, operations teams and specialist functions within the business throughout all phases of the tender process.
• Design warehouse and transport solutions taking into account industry best practice, including: Warehouse processes; layouts; equipment; vehicle routing and shift planning, IT systems; management and admin structures.
• Develop and execute appropriate models to determine resources (people, equipment, property, IT, transport etc.) to feed into financial models.
• Manage quotes for sub-contracting any non-core services which form part of tender scope.
• Prepare profit and loss budgets in conjunction with finance teams.
• Provide detailed financial and operational comparisons for alternative solutions highlighting risk.
• Prepare tender response documentation and presentations.
• Assist with the development of company marketing materials.
• Maintain an up to date knowledge of developments in the industry through membership of a professional body (e.g. CILT), attending industry events and training courses.
• Support the development of other members of the busine

Qualifications

• Commercial awareness of the UK third party logistics sector.
• Successful track record working in a logistics solutions design role with commercial accountability. Transport operations understanding and experience is essential.
• Excellent analytical skills are essential to produce detailed operating cost models.
• Comfortable communicating at Board Level and presenting proposals to customers.
• Ability to lead a team through the tender process and produce high quality results. Leverage support from other departments to ensure appropriate engagement in solutions design and the tender process.
• Technically proficient using advanced Microsoft Office Excel functionality (macros; pivot tables; data links; lookups; etc.) with the ability to deal with complex data management.
• Current and in depth understanding of commercial transport rates and profit & loss.
• Capable of working under pressure to meet critical deadlines and complete objectives.
• Ability to use industry-recognised simulation and modelling tools is not essential but will be advantageous

Additional Information

As part of our drive to make Great Bear a great place to work. We are proud to be an inclusive and diverse organisation where we are committed to employee development and recognising success for hard working performers.

Our dedicated learning and development programmes are open to every employee to give you the opportunity to shape your own future within logistics and continue to work in an environment where team culture thrives.

Our People are the driving force behind our success, which is why we offer a wide range of benefits which include:

• Annual Leave - Competitive holiday entitlement of 25 days plus the bank holidays.
• Company Bonus - We do our best work to succeed together. When we achieve our goals you'll be rewarded through our bonus scheme.
• Private Medical Cover - This gives you peace of mind, you have choice, flexibility and speed of access to the most clinically appropriate care via Bupa.
• Pension scheme - we want colleagues to enjoy a comfortable retirement so we offer a great contribution of 5% employee and 8% employer.
• Life Assurance - 4x your annual salary.
• Company car or car allowance - business need
• Wellness - Via our Employee Assistance Programme, we offer immediate access to a confidential telephone counselling and legal information service that operates 24 hours a days, 365 days a year.
• Eye Care Vouchers - We can provide you with substantial savings with free eye tests and discounts on prescription glasses.
• Reward & Recognition - We recognise that employees have gone the extra mile via Employee of the month and year, special recognition and long service awards.
• Everyday discounts - via our benefit platform you will have access to over 50 retailer discounts for everyday savings!